Hairy Australians, special ‘pee spoons’ and funny bumps in the eye…

Well! My human, Hsin-Yi, was really surprised (and horrified!) to read all your comments with your stories about tiny kitties who could hunt and bring home huge rats…

It’s giving her nightmares now about what Muesli might bring back next…hee! hee!

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Hmm…well, it could be really useful, you know. I’ve heard about kitties that have kittykleptomaniaand go around the neighbourhood stealing things and bringing them back home…maybe I could teach Muesli to go and bring back some yummies for me!

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My other human, Paul, nearly had nightmares of a different kind when he came home a few days ago and found a big hairy Australian visitor in our living room!

He couldn’t believe it when he yelled to Hsin-Yi and she said, without looking up, “Yeah, it’s been there all day.”

WHAT?? Paul stared at Hsin-Yi like she’d gone barkers. How could she have spent all day with a huge spider sitting on the wall next to her?

Me with another hairy Australian last year back in Brisbane!

You see, Hsin-Yi really likes spiders – she thinks they’re very beautiful and fascinating – and they’re good too, coz they eat lots of insects. In fact, they say that without spiders, we’d all be crushed to death by a blanket of insects and nothing would be left in the world! Hsin-Yi thinks spiders are very misunderstood. One of her favourite stories is ‘Charlotte’s Web’, although the ending always makes her cry…

In the days long ago when she couldn’t have any pets and was desperate, she once found a spider in a web in the corner of the kitchen and she named it Esmerelda – and she used to swat flies to half-kill them and then feed them to Esmerelda (Paul thought she was completely mad This is what being deprived of pets in childhood does to you...!).

Anyway, she said, she thought that was an Australian Huntsman spider and although their bites can be very ouchie and make you swell up, it wasn’t really poisonous…and besides, most wild animals won’t do anything to you if you just leave them alone…

“I don’t care how wonderful it is,” said Paul. “There’s no way I’m going to sit here with that thing above my head!”

Well, Hsin-Yi said there was no way she would let him kill it! So in the end, they agreed to catch it and put it out in the garden.

OK, Paul might look really cool in these pictures but actually, he was screaming like a girl – er, I mean, giving helpful guidance while Hsin-Yi was catching it.

Oh! And the spider did a strange thing when my humans tapped it gently with a broom – it just suddenly jumped away from the wall and floated down from the ceiling, like a paratrooper, on a silky thread from its bum! Hsin-Yi thought it was the coolest thing she’d ever seen (Paul thought it was the scariest thing he’d ever seen) – she made sure that she was ready so that she got it as it landed.

She didn’t think it was that big really – she once got to hold a tarantula that was about 5 times bigger! – and she really wanted to keep it for a bit to look at it more closely but Paul said: No way! Out to the garden immediately!

Anyway, if you think that Hsin-Yi’s behaviour with spiders is a bit worrying – let me tell you, she’s been acting weird in other ways lately… One morning a couple of weeks ago, I was wandering out to the garden after breakfast like I always do, to stretch and do my morning wee…when I noticed that Hsin-Yi was skulking in a creepy way around me…holding a giant soup spoon!

What on earth was she doing?

And then – you won’t believe this – when I squatted to pee, she put the giant spoon under my bum and collected all my wee in it!

Well, finally I found out why…turns out that my humans were taking me to my vets (Hamilton Vet Clinic) for a check-up that day!

See, now that I’m supposed to be a “senior doggie” – the vet told my humans that it’s better if I can go for check-ups more often, rather than just once a year like I used to – so as to catch any sickies early. So they said every 4 – 6 months would be best. And they have a special “Senior Pet Check” which has a discount, so it’s less money paper to pay.

So that’s what I was going for that day! And they were going to do all the tests on me – blood test, bone test, tummy test, heart test, eye test, poo test – and of course, a “urine test” too!

So they needed my humans to collect some of my wee to take with us. Well, Hsin-Yi had the idea of using an old soup spoon.

She says – as a tip to other doggie owners – that a “soup ladle with a long handle” is a great & easy way to collect wee from us doggies! So that’s going to be my “pee spoon” from now on – hee! hee!

Having a check-up from my lovely 'usual' vet, Dr Anthony...

Anyway, so I had my check-up and my vet, Dr Anthony, said I’m in great condition! I still have no signs of arthritis at all and my heart is great and my tummy is good and my weight is fine and my muscles are strong and my blood & cholesterol & hormones & stuff are all good and…well, I’m doing pretty well!

There was just one thing: my eyes. Dr Anthony put a special light in my eyes and saw that there were these weird bubble things inside my eyeballs! They are not ‘cataracts’ and he wasn’t sure what they were…

They don’t seem to be bothering me at all – I can see just fine and I’m not rubbing my eyes or anything – but my vet said it was better to get them checked out. He thought they might be a kind of tumour in the eye – and also, he was worried that they might cause “glaucoma” which is a special kind of eye sickie when there is too much blood pressure in the eye and if you don’t get medicines to treat it, you can even go blind! One of my brothers had glaucoma so I need to watch out for that as well.

So last week, my human, Hsin-Yi, took me to see a Special Eye Vet for Doggies who was visiting from Sydney. Well, I have to say – I didn’t like the experience very much! He might be a fancy Eye Vet but he didn’t have any bedside manners at all! He didn’t say hello to me properly or give me any treats, like Dr Anthony does – he just grabbed my head and started shining lots of scary lights in my eyes. But I was very good and I listened to Hsin-Yi, who was standing next to me, saying, “Good girl, Honey, goooood girl! Stay…Stay…Good girl…” – and I didn’t wriggle or struggle at all.

Here's a picture I found online of a doggie being checked by a Tono-pen. (Image from www.muskegoanimalhospital.com)

Even when the Special Eye Vet started stabbing my eye with a fat stick called a Tono-pen which is supposed to measure the pressure in my eyeballs…oooh, that was horrible!…but I was very brave and I sat very still until it was all over. The Special Eye Vet was very impressed with me – he said they normally have to hold doggies down and many doggies have tried to bite him when he got too close to their faces and started sticking things in their eyes. Hsin-Yi said she was REALLY proud of me – how brave and calm I was – because she would have been scared if a stranger started stabbing her eyeballs!

I wish I had photos to show you how scary it was and how brave I was, sitting there, but Hsin-Yi had to take me to the Special Eye Vet by herself and it was a very busy time and the small waiting room was FULL of people (and lots of doggies were very badly behaved with stupid humans who didn’t teach them any manners or try to control them!) – so Hsin-Yi was quite stressy and busy managing everything and she couldn’t take pictures. So you’ll just have to take my word for it! But believe me – that Special Eye Vet looked scary – he was wearing all sorts of weird things on his head, with bits over his eyes and he had lots of scary things that he kept jabbing into my eyes!

And after we came out and I was sitting by the Reception while Hsin-Yi was paying, a very rude Weimeraner doggie came in dragging his owner (who was doing nothing to control him!) and he just barged right up to my face and started climbing all over me and trying to hump me! But I was still very good and didn’t get grumpy – I only gave him a small growl and then looked at Hsin-Yi. She kept telling me what a good girl I was and giving me treats for being so patient. When we got out of the vet clinic, she gave me a BIG hug and said she was soooo proud of me – and wished she could take me somewhere to get ice-cream as a special treat, like she used to back in Auckland!

Anyway, the good news is – the bubbles in my eyes are nothing to worry about. They are ‘iridocilliary cysts‘- which is a kind of “benign tumour”, so it’s not the scary cancer sickie. They are especially common in Golden Retrievers, although Danes can get them too, as they get older. And they can just stay in my eyes ‘coz they’re not doing anything and I can see fine and they are not bothering me. Oh, and my eyeball pressure is really good so I definitely don’t have glaucoma!

That vet could certainly use some training in handling patients. Good grief! Nothing we despise more than having our babies ill-treated. But it was Hsin-Yi’s calm behavior that probably helped you. Our doggie acupuncturist told me on our last visit that she appreciated my calmness, even when the needles sometimes made William or Pippa jerk. When the person gets upset, naturally the dog follows suit. I’m glad you had such a positive check-up! And good for Hsin-Yi and her appreciation of spiders! I don’t mind them as long as they don’t jump. That brings out a primal response! (Jumping away, not killing the creature).

Honey that is WONDERFUL news. And I too am so proud of you and how you handled lots of very stressy situations! If I had been there with you I would have poked that fancy Eye Vet in the eye when we were done.

Catch and Release! that’s what i do to all spiders too! i don’t like them in the house either, especially my bed room, but if they are in a corner with a web, it may take a week before i catch and release and knock down the web…

as for flies… i have to admit, i do try to open windows and shoe them out. that usually works. we don’t have screens here so we get a lot of flies. but if one is being really stupid, and doesn’t find the open window, then it deserves to be swatted…

It’s nice to hear you are ok. You were really brave. I would be so scared (I’m scared of any doctors, especially dentists, and I’m not sure if it’s even a real fobia yet :/ but it surely feels something like it).
And that spider!! I’m so glad there isn’t spiders like that big in Finland! I’m not afraid of them but I just don’t like them. And the regural house spiders here in Finland are sort of cute. But they are small. But I don’t still want to touch them or sleep atleast in the same room. I won’t kill them because they bring good luck but I always atleast try to take them out of the house. My partner would just kill them :/ and he’s more afraid of them than me.

Hi Honey, those hairy Australians visit us too. There is a difference between your dad Paul and our brother Paul cause he catches them in his hands and puts them outside. Mum puts them in a container and Dad says, just leave them where they are.

You were certainly brave with the eye doctor too. What a fabulous girl you are (and your mum too). My mum used to catch Kara’s wee with a little omelet pan (not used now that’s for sure) hehehe. We love your last few photos. Yours eyes are so beautiful. Take care all. Look out for more hairy Australians Paul. Mum says they are always in pairs!!!
No worries, and love, Stella and Rory

Wow, Honey, I can’t believe anyone could be as brave as you! I don’t mind the vet at all, but I think I might put my paw down, if anyone tried to stab me in the eye..!! :-O I’m so happy to hear that everything looks good – but not surprised at all. With your humans keeping you in such good shape, that’s only to be expected

I really admire your patience – not only with the weirdlooking and poking vets, but also with the rude dogs and their silly humans .. Hsin-Yi is right to be proud of you!

You have been a very busy (and very good) girl! We have the same thing with spiders here – except since the time in Azrizona that muzzer was bitten by a brown recluse spider, she is much more careful. And we think the pea spoon is a great idea. And that is a classy piece of equipment you have – but you are one classy girl.

My human takes my place today to write about ancient times B.B.E. (Before the Badger Era): I like the soup ladle idea for collecting a “specimen.” My first Deerhound, the late Vachon, as a pup had to have a test for a genetic sickie called cystinuria that some big dogs are prone to, and I had to collect enough wee for several test tubes to send off to a faraway university laboratory in an ice chest. It had to be fairly fresh, so late in the evening before my early-morning vet visit, I was following him all over the neighborhood with a gallon ice-cream bucket, trying to dive in and catch any little bit of pee he wanted to decorate a bush or tree with. Every time I’d put the bucket under him, he’d kick it or trip over it, and spill anything that was already in it. Then a neighbour dog who ran loose all the time came along on the walk to see what we were doing. He was fascinated by this odd behaviour and tried to add his own contribution to the bucket — so it spilled when I pulled it away from him, too. After walking up and down the same road for over an hour, I finally had what I thought might be enough (it was dark out by then, so I had to guess). When I finally got my bucket into the house under the light, there was about an eighth of a cup of urine, and an equal amount of dead gnats and other little flying bugs floating in it! Needless to say, we had to make a different appointment and start all over again another day. The best part of this story for you, Honey? When I told my vet about our misadventures, she laughed and said, “Well, that’s still easier than trying to collect a specimen from a female!” So your person is VERY clever! She could probably get rich, buying up a truckload of soup ladles, labeling them as veterinary equipment for collecting urine, and selling them for a gazillion per cent mark-up!

We’ve got the official pee spoon too! When Cisco first went blind we had to go quite a bit to the eye vet, and they were constantly poking her eyes too! Mom didn’t like it, but Cisco seemed to not be bothered by it.

Wooo Hooo Honey! Congrats on passing your dawgtor test! But I gots to say that I thinks that the eye dawgtor is very rude, no wonder he has gotten bitten lots! I thinks he deserves it! How rude just walking up to a pup or hooman not introducing himself and just to start pookin! Heck I thinks you did Pawsomely well! I give you 5 toes up for that! I is super happy that your eyes are OKdokie!

If my Mom had to collect my wee I think she would have to use a teaspoon with a really LOOOOOOng handle!!! BOL

Mom and I laughed at the picture of your Pops with the spider! So funny! Mom is like Hsin-yi, she takes the spiders that are in my house and puts them outside too!

So glad you’re doing just fine and even more!! Wonderful, your humans do take care of you in the best possible way
I think that you are one of the healthiest Danes I’ve read about.

I really hate the fact that people can’t control their dogs, or at least try to do so. I mean, dogs that are five times smaller than you are doing five times more damage then you, but it doesn’t matter because they don’t look scary or big!! Oh, I hate that soooo much!! And it is so frustrating. The same thing is happening to me in my walks, and I have a 10year old Labrador with a limp, but he is black and bigger then the rest of the dogs, and everybody’s pointing to him as vicious and bad, and he is the only one leashed and well-behaved. (and most of the time those small dogs come barking at him and running up to his face, I know my dog would never do something, but if he tries to, then it would be his fault. :/ ) … That just isn’t fair, but well, I have to find a way to live with it, because I can’t change it….

Sorry for that, but I just had to say it. And you can be really proud and happy and with a heart as big as a house to have such a beautiful well-behaved and cool dog

That Hsin-Yi is a a strange child, my Mom would be freaking over spiders that big. I’m glad to hear that Muesli isn’t bringing in huge creatures….YET BOL. Also glad to hear your checkup went well, I recently went for mine too. Not very impressed with my doctor either she poked me in the bum with a needle ugh.

Paul looks so silly in the spider picture! That face is almost as good as the gargoyle picture from your trip! Eye doctors scare mommy to pieces! You are very brave Honey! Mommy had a hard time at the eye doctor specialist once — she just couldn’t bare to have a special machine touch her eyeball to get a reading of her eye pressure. Finally after about a whole bottle of eye drops and like 5 hours later — finally Mommy (cooperated/or was distracted enough) to finally get the accurate reading. Turns out Mommy has really thick corneas and that is why her readings are always so high. Hsin-Yi definately owes you the ice cream or another yummy treat for your eye doctor visit!

Honey, first I am so happy your beautiful eyes are A-okay! I know your visit to the specialist was quite an ordeal for you, but you came away with good news!! And a big hug from Hsin-Yi

I know what you mean about bedside manors…it makes a big difference. When I was having my “troubles”…I went to an Orthopedic Specialist and he was real mean, but then they sent me to a Neurologist and he was wonderful. He got down on the floor with me and hugged me and told me I was beautiful…he did my brain surgery for Syringomyelia and was so nice all the way through and spent so much time with my human explaining our options.

That was quite a spider in your home! Glad your humans saved it and found a new home for it. My human loved “Charlotte’s Web”, too. She liked the spider in “Babe”, too.

And finally, what a great idea for “pee collection”! I’m a little dog, so my human is going to look for something a little smaller, Cavalier sized!

Ohh Honey I wish I had known about the Pee Spoon a few years ago,I often had to get pee from my Doberman and I chased her around with a sheet pan, LOL. Much better idea with the spoon! I had that same eye checkup and it is awful so I can totally comiserate!

p.s. your Mama is crazy if I saw a spider that big, I would shit my pants (sorry for the language but you are a Sr. Doggie so I assume you have heard it all) and then run! Luckily in the US at least where I live we have few spiders!

I am really happy to hear you and your beautiful eyes are fine Honey!
Hope Muesli took you nice company to cheer you up while you were waiting for the test results…!!!
Good idea your human had with the soup spoon!!!! Must tell my human to do so whenever I will need to get the urine test too…
Your human talks about spiders is scary…. my humans do not like spiders as much as she does, but they always try and save them because they help with insects…
And Mario also loves bats… Once a bat got into the bedroom (I was not with them at the time to help) my human was very scared, did not know what to do… so she closed the door. When Mario was back from work he went into the room, he catch the poor bat and freed it… He got a lot of points of recognition with my other scary human…
Ciao Lucille

Ops, I was forgetting the most important thing of all: I am really proud of you sis!
You really behaved in a great, great way, hope Hsin-Yi knows about the rule of the three presents that have to be given to kids when they have been real good…
You deserve three special treats for being such a wonderful doggie…
Ciao Lucille

Hi Honey, my mum FREAKS at spiders……if they come inside they are toast! She says they have like 24 gazillion babies at once – so she insists she doesn’t want that explosion inside the house. (She is still in therapy when a huge wolf spider exploded her egg sac inside on my rug and 24 gazillion little spiders came out).

You were very brave with all that vet stuff. My mum laughed when your mum was catchin’ your wee with that big spoon – it brought her right back to when her cat, Cleo, was diagnosed with kidney issues – and she had to get her wee. She thought it was going to be impossible from a cat, but she found that if she followed her outside in the morning, and just waited till she squatted, she could slip a flatish soup ladle (retired from use) under her bum bum – it was easy! The things pet owners have to do huh?? BOL!

My Jeannette says that you can make ‘pets’ from huntsmen spiders…..well actually its actually that they are really good at working out where their food source is.
We kept one for eight weeks so to show refugees that Jeannette was working with /training .We then tried to release it and she kept coming back inside and sitting next to the cupboard where we fed her crickets!
Wanda is partially blind now too (its her age!)and a bit deaf but she still a bossy girl!

Honey you would have a REALLY huge friend if Muesli brought back a T-Rex!!!

Yup ladles are the in thing to catch pee with now! Our human has been handed a ladle to catch pee with the the vet a few times now – she is so relieved that we and the doggies she works with go pee on command!

Very cool spider as well!! And are glad that there is nothing wrong with yout eyes

Honey, you are an amazing doggie to let some brusque doctor poke things in your eyes! Abby would not stand for that, and even Jed would be hard to convince. We’re so happy your eyes are as healthy as they are beautiful.

Hsin-Yi has a very clever pee collector! Mama remembers using [old] pie pans for female Danes, but a ladle is a much better idea!

We basically side with mama on the appropriate place for critters: outside, their territory; inside, OUR territory and we get to catch them & eat them if we can. Mama likes spiders outside where they belong. We don’t care much one way or the other about spiders, but we’ll chase anything that flies that gets in the house and Abby has a pretty good track record catching flies and moths.

Miss Honey! I love the photo of your Hsin-Yi following you about with a soup spoon. Momma had to collect my wee about a month ago and she tried to use one of those little plastic cups. She was unprepared for the speed with which it quickly filled to overflowing. Hehehe.

I have to say that momma is on the side of your Paul when it comes to spiders. She is OK if they mind their business and stay out of the way, but if they expand their territory or get too close then she is total freak-a-zoid.

As for Meusli, well, I think that she should keep bringing stuff home. You will just need to hide anything that might scare Hsin-Yi.

I’m glad there is nothing bad wrong with your eyeballs. Weird stuff can happen to senior doggies, you know, so best to be fully informed.

You have beautiful eyes and I am so glad they are healthy and the rest of you too. That is wonderful news. I too have a weird human that follows around behind us collecting our urine in a soup laddle. They are great for that purpose. You handled all the craziness at the vet clinic very calmly. Why is it we seem to be out numbered by poor mannered humans?

We are so very happy all your tests are normal. Hoping you have many, many, many more!!!

Okay first part of the post gave me chill bumps! I hate spiders! I mean I love what they do for the planet, controlling insects and all, but I am horribly, horribly terrified of them. I think even Paul was brave compared to me. When I see a spider I bolt to the nearest piece of furniture and will not come down until it is gone. I can’t hold them even in a cup because I can see them and it’s just too close. Ugh I have chill bumps again lol.

The second part was interesting, although it sounds like an icky experience at the special eye vet. I’m glad it was nothing to worry about. When Storm went she was a very good girl. She whine and cried at first when he did the tear test, but once he put a local anesthetic in her eye she was fine. I guess it was hurting more than I realized. She is doing great with her new eye tear gel, but he still hasn’t called me back about the Clyclosporine and it’s been over a week and a half. That’s really my only complaint about my vet. It gets really irritating not getting return calls. I’m glad Honey’s wasn’t anything serious.